If you buy or sell secondhand jigsaws...

[HollyCanDoAnything]

...how would you package them, or expect them to be packaged? I have a lot of them in my loft, and thought i'd sell some on ebay. Could i just wrap in plastic? Would the boxes survive intact? Or maybe bubble wrap? Only expecting to get a couple of £ each, don't want to spend on packaging, but don't want to risk ruining my feedback score either.

I’ve bought a few children’s ones (so possibly different expectations as a purchaser? Not sure) and generally the pieces come in a freezer bag inside the box, then the box itself is generally just inside a padded envelope. They’re normally quite bashed, but I reckon that’s just a hazard of any child’s toy. For an adult’s puzzle I’d maybe expect bubble wrap around the box.

I wouldn't have thought it was worth the time (and cost) of packaging them and taking them to the post office / other lockers or way of sending them.

People I know who do jigsaws swap them.
There are jigsaw libraries.
There are always stacks and stacks of jigsaws available at Christmas / Summer Fairs, jumble sales, car boots, etc.
They are given away on local giving sites.
Places of Welcome often have a 'swap shelf'.
etc

Every charity shop in the country has dozens and dozens of jigsaws. Whilst at Xmas they might go for £1 or £2 each, after that they are generally going for 2 for £1 in my local. And that includes the ones still sealed in their packaging and ones that were clearly specialist and/or expensive on first purchase.

Good luck.

I’ve sold a few on eBay and vinted and wrap them in bubble wrap and brown paper with lots of brown packing tape (from cheap shop) - never had negative feedback but another thing I’ve always done is keep edges separate from rest of puzzle which from feedback seems appreciated.

My local library lends out 2nd hand jigsaws for free - they ask you to swap if you can but are fine if you don't have one. It has been an invaluable resource for my elderly father who is housebound. If you don't need the money it would be greatly appreciated if you could donate to the library.

Usually the pieces are inside a freezer bag. Some one who has donated lots has been even better and separately wrapped the edge pieces in a separate bag, which has been great!

@Smidge001 it is partly about the money. I probably have about 50 of them, and self employed in a seasonal job, so not a lot of work on at the moment.

Thank you @Nowaysunshine I think that's what i'll do. I quite often see bubble wrap offered on freecycle.

@ForPearlViper Maybe depends where you live, but in my local towns i usually pay between £3 and £4 for second hand ones. And for Wasgij (which i have maybe 15 of) they all charge £5. I'd probably sell them in bundles to keep the postage costs down.

I think what folk are saying though, is
a) I doubt if many people would pay that much for them
b) you then have to take in to account the cost of actually sending them - padded envelopes, bubble wrap. brown paper, etc might not be vastly expensive, but even if you got £4 for one (which seems unlikely) you have to take off what you have spent even before factoring in your time.
c) postage has to be paid by someone. Not sure how e-bay works anymore, and I think Vinted charge the buyer (?), so then what you are advertising becomes the price of what you are willing to accept for it plus the cost of postage (not cheap) which then makes it even less likely someone is going to buy most jigsaws.

My goodness they are real bargains!

I buy 1000 piece ones from the charity shops and like everything else they have shot up in price the last few years. Oxfam are the most expensive and charge £4.99 for that size.I usually buy the Hospice shop ones for £ 3.99. I think the large Shelter shop in the next town charge £ 2.99. I think all the shops do have jigsaw sales at some point.

I did buy a 3D jigsaw off Ebay once - they are really quite expensive new and quite hard to get second hand. It came packaged just in paper and the box was a bit bashed up but the jigsaw was intact so that didn't matter.

DH buys and sells (and does) vintage jigsaws, mostly a couple of specific makes. Some are really expensive - in the £100+ range! Pieces are usually in a bag inside the box, and the box well wrapped in bubble wrap.

He's received a few with pieces missing and the sellers have later found the missing pieces and sent them on! He's part of a vintage jigsaw group though, so most people are friendly and not just random ebayers.

To echo PPs, my local charity shops sell old jigsaws for a pound or two. Unless you live 30 miles away from shops, nobody is going to pay anything plus at least £4 postage for a used jigsaw.

I don't think you'll find it's worth the effort of trying to sell them - sorry. My charity shop are stuffed with them for £2.50 & so I wouldn't pay more on eBay.